Angels and Saints: Who They Are and Why They Matter (Engaging Catholicism)

We often pray with the saints in our Catholic practice or see paintings of angels by famous artists, but who are they really? What do they do? Can they really intercede for us?

Elizabeth Klein, assistant professor of theology at the Augustine Institute, leads us through a soul-inspiring exploration of Catholic teaching on angels and saints and why they matter to us as individuals and to the Church.

Throughout the book, Klein answers common questions about the angels and saints in order to give us a deeper understanding and appreciation of the role they play in our lives, the Mass, and in the life of the Church. She also equips us to better discuss with non-Catholics what we believe about angels and saints.

In Angels and Saints, Klein explains that these heavenly companions are gifts from God. They are our friends and are joined to us in the mystical Body of Christ. They invite us to love God and each other perfectly as they do.

In this book, you also will learn that

• Angels appear throughout the Bible in many forms.
• The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that angels are perfect, immortal, have souls, and are as individual as humans.
• Both the Old and New Testaments provide strong evidence that each one of us has a guardian angel.
• The Communion of Saints refers to the Church, the Body of Christ of which we are a part. This means we have true contact and unity with all members of the Church, both living and dead.
• No matter your state in life, you can find a canonized saint very like you.
• When we pray to saints, we are really asking them to pray to God on our behalf.
• Relics are the remains of saints, including their body or parts of it, clothing or items they have used, or something put into contact with the saint's body or one of its parts. Relics are mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments.
• A saint's feast day is the day of their death--the day they entered eternal life.

Books in the Engaging Catholicism series from the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame help readers discover the beauty and truth of the Catholic faith through a concise exploration of the Church's most important but often difficult-to-grasp doctrines as well as crucial pastoral and spiritual practices.

Elizabeth Klein is an assistant professor of theology at the Augustine Institute, a contributor to Formed, and the author of God: What Every Catholic Should Know and Augustine's Theology of Angels.

She is the director of the Augustine Institute's Short Course Program. Klein earned a doctor of philosophy degree in historical theology at the University of Notre Dame, where she also served as a post-doctoral scholar, course instructor, and graduate assistant. She earned bachelor's and master's degrees from McMaster University.

Klein is a regular contributor to Magnificat. She has been a guest on a number of radio shows and podcasts, including Church Life Journal Radio, Classical Theism, and The Catholic Gentleman. She has spoken at the Denver Catholic Women's Conference, Fullness of Truth, and the Augustine Institute Bible Conference.

She lives with her family in Aurora, Colorado.

The McGrath Institute for Church Life was founded as the Center for Pastoral and Social Ministry by the late Notre Dame president Fr. Theodore Hesburgh, CSC, in 1976. The McGrath Institute partners with Catholic dioceses, parishes, and schools to provide theological education and formation to address pressing pastoral problems. The Institute connects the Catholic intellectual tradition to the pastoral life of the Church in forming faithful Catholic leaders for service to the Church and the world. The McGrath Institute strives to be the preeminent source of creative Catholic content and programming for the new evangelization in the United States.

Brant Pitre is a Catholic theologian and bestselling author.